Small banks gain an ally in Hillary Clinton, J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley CEOs can keep their bonuses, and financial stocks continue to modestly outperform the S&P 500.

Financial stocks have been tracking slightly higher than the S&P 500 in recent weeks amid speculation about whether the Fed might approve a rate increase in June or September, the first since the financial crisis of 2008.

Executives at J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM) and Morgan Stanley (MS) can rest easier after shareholders approved their 2014 compensation packages. Both the New York banks held their annual shareholder meetings on Tuesday. While the news for management was good at both, the win at Morgan Stanley may have been a little sweeter.

According to preliminary results, 89% of votes cast were in favor of Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman's 2014 compensation of $22.5 million. Meanwhile, preliminary results at J.P. Morgan showed just 61% of votes cast were in favor of CEO Jamie Dimon's 2014 compensation of $20 million.

Leading up to Tuesday's meeting, proxy advisory services Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis advised shareholders to vote against J.P. Morgan's proposed compensation structure. Their critique, however, wasn't the amount of compensation being sought, instead the companies wished that JPMorgan provided more consistency and transparency in how it arrives at its compensation figures.

Shares of J.P. Morgan closed up 59 cents at $67.01 while shares of Morgan Stanley closed up 36 cents at $38.69.

Bank of America (BAC) approached a four-month high during Tuesday's trading, almost reaching $16.79 amid a boost from trader speculation about an interest-rate increase.